Bucknell Women's Rowing Abroad

G’Day!

This past weekend was parents weekend in my residential college, but it was a little distant of a trip for my parents to come for the weekend.  So the other exchangers and I did a bunch of weekend day trips together.  On Friday, we traveled two hours by bus to go to the Hunter Valley, which is an area outside of Sydney known for the multitude of vineyards.  We got to experience a wine tour where we learned about the history of the area and different types of grapes and wines that are unique to Australia.

On Saturday, I actually had another field trip for my Marine Environment class where we got to travel on a boat and learn about the sediment in different areas throughout the bay.  Unfortunately, myself and two of my friends struggled with the public transportation system where we missed two trains to get to the starting destination for the trip.  Lol we don’t have the best of luck traveling via public transit.  It’s a work in progress.

Finally Sunday was a day dedicated to eating.  I started off my day by having brunch at the Grounds of Alexandria, which is a big organic market with locally grown foods.  It’s a giant farmers market with a petting zoo attached and it was a great way to start off the morning.  While I was there I got a yummy brekkie box and a delicious apple and kale drink.

After that I went to the Smooth Chocolate Festival and as a chocoholic I can say with confidence that it was definitely one of the best food experiences of my life.  I was able to sample all different types of chocolates, fudges, and candies.  But I ended up buying the holy grail of all milkshakes.  It was a chocolate milkshake with a Belgian waffle with hot fudge, whipped cream and chocolate malt balls on top.  Just thinking about it is bringing back good memories.  I have the picture below but please ignore my chocolate covered hand.  I was like a toddler not knowing how to start eating this milkshake masterpiece.

Aside from my day trips last weekend, I’ve been staying on campus this week and living in the library because I had a couple of exams and other assignments due for mid semester.  I actually have an exam Saturday morning, ughhhhh, but hopefully it goes well.  Fingers crossed.  After the exam tomorrow is done, I’m going to be taking a surf lesson and on Sunday I’m running in a 9k.  I will let you all know how everything goes.

Hope training and classes are going well for everyone!

Allison “I miss bagels” Mascioli

Buonasera amici!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel with Syracuse University to Assisi, Italy. The ride took about two hours via bus. As we were arriving, we had to look up to see the town, as it sits on high ground with a wall surrounding it. Although the town is relatively small, with narrow winding streets and views of the countryside, Assisi is the birthplace of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of Italy.

During my visit, I spent hours inside the Basilica di San Francesco learning about all of the beautiful frescos depicting the life of Francis and I was even able to go see his tomb. It was a moving experience, especially seeing how important it was for so many people to be there. In my art history class we are learning about frescos and techniques used to create them, so it was neat to be able to connect what I learned in class to what I had just seen in person. I look forward to more site visits like this one.

On Sunday, my Urban Sustainability professor took the class on a bike ride outside of Florence. I didn’t know what to expect when he first told us about it. Turns out we ended up biking from 9am to 5:30pm, and when we weren’t biking we were taking a short break for lunch or walking around. It was definitely a good workout. One of the places we biked to was a WWF Oasis, a conservation site where animals (mostly birds and amphibians) can rest away from civilization. As I looked out at one of the ponds from the observatory, I saw some cool looking birds and a flamingo!

This Saturday, my Sustainability class will be going to Milan and I think we are biking again. Hopefully no one gets lost or breaks a bike this time. I’ll let you know how that goes in next weeks post!

Ciao Ciao,

Stephanie

This weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Nerja, Spain for the day. Nerja is on the Costa del Sol about an hour and a half away from Granada, and is incredibly beautiful. We spent the day relaxing on the beach and swimming in the super clear water. The views from the beach look photo-shopped, even in real life, because the mountains are looming in the background and the water is so blue. Four of us even rented a huge paddle boat that had a slide on top and took it farther out in the water. We had so much fun using the slide and jumping off the side.

On Sunday, I went to a Granada fútbol game with some friends I’ve met here. It was a cool experience! Even though they lost in the last minutes of extra time (bummer), it was interesting to see how into the game the people were. We were even on the scoreboard at one point!

My classes are going pretty well. I’m definitely learning a lot of new things about Spanish grammar. My favorite thing about the class is my professor, África. She’s super cool and helpful. She also likes to teach us colloquial Spanish phrases, which I love!

Although I really love the food here (especially arroz con leche, which my host mom makes for me all the time because she knows I love it), I really miss American food sometimes. I could just go for some Chic-Fil-A or wings right now!!

Hope training and classes are going well for everyone!

Love,

Bix